Wolbachia for malaria control

Abstract

Malaria remains a major public health concern, and traditional vector control methods face growing challenges, underscoring the need for novel strategies. The success of Wolbachia-based dengue control, together with the establishment of Plasmodium-blocking Wolbachia transinfections in Anopheles, highlights the potential of a new tool for malaria control. This review discusses the main experimental systems for studying Wolbachia-Anopheles interactions, emphasizing the challenges of generating Wolbachia transinfected Anopheles gambiae strains. Experiments utilizing Plasmodium parasite challenge in transiently and stably infected Anopheles demonstrated that Wolbachia-induced Plasmodium suppression is feasible. Building on insights from Wolbachia-Aedes-arborvirus systems - and with current evidence from Anopheles systems - we also address mechanisms of Plasmodium suppression. Finally, we outline challenges and opportunities for translating these findings from proof-of-concept to field application.

Keywords: Anopheles; Plasmodium; Wolbachia; malaria; vector control.